Joel Connelly: Big Nancy comes to town

After making headlines with her visit to Syria, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi winds up her Easter Recess on Friday by coming to Seattle for an immersion session on new and alternative sources of energy.

Pelosi will visit the headquarters of Seattle Biodiesel, where she’ll meet with executives of nine firms, as well as Gov. Chris Gregoire and four members of the Washington congressional delegation.

The companies are involved in developing tidal power, expanding the Northwest’s use of wind energy, extracting liquid natural gas from landfills, and building high pressure turbines that will pump carbon dioxide from power plants back into the ground.
lp liquid

Pelosi, a San Francisco congresswoman, began her tenure as Speaker of the House by naming a new committee to deal with dangers of global warming. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., is a member of the panel.

“We see not only exciting possibilities, but are beginning to realize them,” Inslee said yesterday. He spent the day conferring with Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy, and other major energy producers and users. They were discussing a proposed national limit to carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and how utilities would buy and trade credits for achieving reductions in CO2.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who backed Pelosi’s rise in the House leadership, said the Northwest “has a tremendous amount to show” in development of alternatives to the carbon fuel-burning economy.

“I hope she goes away from this area convinced that we are one of the leaders of the country in biodiesel, wind and all the other things going on. We’re a place that’s actually doing things rather than talking about what we might do.”

McDermott joked about how the Washington congressional delegation is walking its talk on fuel efficiency.

“It’s the only delegation with three Priuses in it,” said the Seattle congressman. McDermott, Inslee and Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., drive the fuel-efficient automobiles.

King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who have seemingly competed with initiatives on climate change, will be on hand to greet Pelosi.